Luana Horry has been promoted to editor at HarperCollins Children’s.
Jennifer Udden joins New Leaf Literary & Media as literary agent; she was previously agent at Barry Goldblatt Literary. Kate Sullivan joins as senior content development manager; she was senior editor at Delacorte. Meredith Barnes joins as business development manager; she was publicity manager at Harper Collins.
Monica Odom has founded Odom Media Management, a literary agency focused on “voices and stories that have been historically hushed.” She will continue to represent nonfiction, literary fiction and illustrated titles for both children and adults, including her existing client list. She was at Liza Dawson Associates.
At Tom Doherty Associates, Ali Fisher has been promoted to senior editor, Chris Morgan moves up to editor, and Alex Cameron is now brand manager.
At Harper Children’s, announce that Luana Horry has been promoted to editor.
Lilly and Tetra, two penguins from the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, visited the Penguin Random House warehouse in Westminster, MD (and the publisher is donating to their conservation efforts to protect African penguin habitats).
Canadian author, co-founder of the Writers’ Trust of Canada, and former the president of PEN Canada Graeme Gibson, 85, has died. His wife Margaret Atwood said on behalf of the family, “We are devastated by the loss of Graeme, our beloved father, grandfather, and spouse, but we are happy that he achieved the kind of swift exit he wanted and avoided the decline into further dementia that he feared. He had a lovely last few weeks, and he went out on a high, surrounded by love, friendship and appreciation. We are grateful for his wise, ethical, and committed life.”
Acquisitions
Storytel will acquire Finnish publisher Gummerus, in a deal expected to close on September 30. Gummerus will continue to operate independently under current managing director Anna Baijars. The unit had sales of approximately 7.6 million euros in 2018, with a profit of 0.3 million euros. Storytel says it “will not have a substantial impact” on their finances, though they are paying in a combination of cash and newly issued shares.
Distribution: Harper Adds Western Shipping Through Ingram
In late October, Harper Collins will launch a standing quick reorder program for qualifying orders from independent bookstores in Western states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington), following Baker & Taylor’s exit from bookstore wholesaling. The orders will be filled from Ingram‘s warehouse in Roseburg, OR.
Separately, Harper will bring back their holiday express shipping program for
independent bookstores from October 28 through January 10.
Additionally, Baker & Taylor Publisher Services announced a sales representation and distribution agreement with Syncretic Press effective October in the US and Canada. (They batched together another 11 client signings dating back as early as March that therefore are not “news” anymore.)